2nd February Trinity 2008, No Fool

3^rd, 4^th February Trinity

Blake, Stones into Bread

(Sunday after Ash Wednesday)

Matthew 4:1-11

Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the loneliness of the desert to experience the tempting power of the adversary.

After fasting forty days and nights, He felt for the first time hunger for earthly nourishment. Then the tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, let these stones become bread through the power of your word.”

Jesus answered, “It is written, ‘The human being shall not live on bread alone; he lives by the creative power of every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

  

Then the devil took him to the holy city and

Blake, Throw Yourself Down

had him stand on the parapet of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”

Jesus answered him, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.”

Again a third time, the devil took him to a very elevated place, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. “All this I will give to you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me  as your Lord. “

Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship [pray to] God your Lord who guides you and serve him only.’”

Then the adversary left him, and he beheld again the angels as they came to bring him nourishment.

2^nd Sunday February Trinity

February 10, 2008

Matthew 4:1-11

When a first-time driver sits behind the wheel, he or she must first gain control of the power of the vehicle—how far to turn the wheel in order to end up where he wants; how hard to press on gas or brake. The first lessons are usually out in an empty space.

In this gospel reading, Christ had just been baptized. He had just for the first time entered the strange territory of a human soul and body. Imagine what a great coup it would have been for the devil to abort Christ’s mission at its very inception. So we can imagine the devil hauling out his greatest weapons.

The first of the devil’s weapons is the desperation of the body’s need. In suggesting that Christ turn stones into bread, the devil might also be whispering that of course it would be foolish for Christ to let Himself die of starvation here in the desert. Yet Christ resists literally taking matter into his own hands. He relies on the Father’s living presence to sustain Him—and indeed He is nourished by angels who come to feed Him.

The second and the third of the devil’s temptations involve the soul’s

Blake, Riches of the World

pride in two extreme forms. First the devil draws Him over to one side, into foolishly assuming God’s total protection of body and soul, no matter how extreme the behavior, even if He were to jump off a high place. Failing that, the devil takes Him to the other extreme, encouraging Him to drop his allegiance to the Father altogether and to derive His power from the Prince of this World.

Yet, new as He is to life in a human body, Christ is no fool. He sees through the errors and consequences in the devil’s propositions. He knows that His connection with His Father must remain both appropriate and unbroken in order for Him to do what he has come to earth to do.

Because Christ was able to overcome temptation from within the human body, He is able to give every human being the possibility to do likewise—to see through and to resist the devil’s false suggestions, in order to do what we have come to earth to do. Each human being has the possibility to maintain a connection to the world from which we all have come. We can become aware of our real connection with our Father in the heavens, whose kingdom comes when it is His will that is done on earth. We can perhaps hear Him speaking in the words of the poet:

Close both eyes and see with the other eye.

Open your hands if you want to be held….

Quit acting like a wolf and feel

the Shepherd’s love, filling you.[1]

www.thechristiancommunity.org

---

[1] Rumi, “A Communion of the Spirit” in The Essential Rumi, Coleman Barks, p. 3.

2nd February Trinity 2009, No Simple Gift

2^nd February Trinity

Luke 8:14-18

And as a great crowd had gathered, and ever more people streamed to him out of the cities, he spoke in a parable:

A sower went out to sow his seed. As he sowed, some seed fell on the path. It was trodden upon, and the birds of the sky (air) ate it up. Other seed fell upon the rocks, and as it sprouted, it (the sprouting green) withered, because it had no moisture. Still other seed fell under the thorns; the thorns grew with it and choked what came up. And some fell upon good soil, grew, and brought forth fruit a hundredfold. When he had said these things, he called out:

“He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”

His disciples asked him what this parable might mean. And he said:

To you it has been given the gift of being able to understand the mysteries of the kingdom of God; but to the others it is given in pictures and parables, for they see and do not yet see, and hear, although they do not yet understand with their thinking. The meaning of the parable is this:

The seed is the Word of God. That which fell upon the path are those who hear it; afterwards the tempter comes and tears the Word out of their hearts, so that they cannot find healing through the trusting power of faith working in them.

Those on the rock are those who, when they hear the Word, take it up with joy; but they remain without root. For a while the power of their faith works in them, but in times of trial they fall away.

What fell under the thorns are those who hear the Word from the spirit, and as they go on their way, the sorrows and the riches and the joys of life choke it, and they bring no fruit to maturity.

And the seed which fell in the good soil are those who hear the Word, and take it up into their hearts, feel its beauty, become noble and worthy and patiently keep it alive, tending it there until it brings forth fruit.

No one lights a light and hides it under a vessel or under a bench; instead he places it on a lamp stand so that all who come in see the light. For nothing is hidden which shall not be revealed, and nothing is secret which shall not be known and proclaimed.

So attend to how you listen. For he who has enlivened in himself the power to bear the spirit, to him more will be given. He however who does not have this power, from him will be taken that which he thinks he has.

2^nd February Trinity

February 15, 2009

Luke 8: 14 – 18

In the garden we are approaching a time of year when a lot will need to be done: earth turned, tested, amended in preparation; seed chosen; watchful tending of sprouts, so that they will eventually flower, set seed, bear fruit. This is especially important for food crops, for fruit and grain are the whole point and purpose of a season’s work.

God and his angels worked long to prepare the earth for humanity. God has planted us on the earth. And on the fields of earth, in the midst of his crop of humanity, He planted one particularly magnificent, potent and fruitful seed—His Divine-Human Son. This Son ripened on earth, and has offered Himself as seed, as a potential voice, to every human heart.

His abiding voice is a gift to us from the Father. We don’t have to accept the gift. For the rules of the game, established by God Himself, are that we must have the possibility of choice. So it is quite possible that we allow modern life to drown out the voice of the divine as it whispers to our heart. We can fail to open our heart’s listening. We can fail to cultivate the necessary depth and fertility of soul, so that what we hear and inspires us cannot grow and thrive in us.

This gift of the seed-word from God is no simple gift. It is a gift that requires our participation. So we have to make time and space to work with it. We plough the earth of the heart through suffering and learning. We listen, paying attention to the qualities of heart-earth we may need to amend, so that the seed from the Gardener of the Heart can be received at just the right time. We tend to His words, patiently helping them grow there in loyalty and trust. And then in time the seed-word of God, which bespeaks of human development and inner growth, produces a beautiful nobility of soul. It grows into a fruit that enlivens, a grain that feeds and nourishes. Our heart becomes banquet that feeds and nourishes our fellow human beings and the world.

In time we will have grown something to offer back to God and His angels; the gift of a matured and fruitful soul. In time, with labor, our souls themselves will become bread and wine, which we can offer to the angels, as support in their work with us. 

www.thechristiancommunity.org

2nd February 2010, Abundant Harvest

Van Gogh

2^nd February Trinity

Luke 8:14-18

And as a great crowd had gathered, and ever more people streamed to him out of the cities, he spoke in a parable:

A sower went out to sow his seed. As he sowed, some seed fell on the path. It was trodden upon, and the birds of the sky (air) ate it up. Other seed fell upon the rocks, and as it sprouted, it (the sprouting green) withered, because it had no moisture. Still other seed fell under the thorns; the thorns grew with it and choked what came up. And some fell upon good soil, grew, and brought forth fruit a hundredfold. When he had said these things, he called out:

“He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”

His disciples asked him what this parable might mean. And he said:

To you it has been given the gift of being able to understand the mysteries of the kingdom of God; but to the others it is given in pictures and parables, for they see and do not yet see, and hear, although they do not yet understand with their thinking. The meaning of the parable is this:

The seed is the Word of God. That which fell upon the path are those who hear it; afterwards the tempter comes and tears the Word out of their hearts, so that they cannot find healing through the trusting power of faith working in them.

Those on the rock are those who, when they hear the Word, take it up with joy; but they remain without root. For a while the power of their faith works in them, but in times of trial they fall away.

What fell under the thorns are those who hear the Word from the spirit, and as they go on their way, the sorrows and the riches and the joys of life choke it, and they bring no fruit to maturity.

And the seed which fell in the good soil are those who hear the Word, and take it up into their hearts, feel its beauty, become noble and worthy and patiently keep it alive, tending it there until it brings forth fruit.

No one lights a light and hides it under a vessel or under a bench; instead he places it on a lamp stand so that all who come in see the light. For nothing is hidden which shall not be revealed, and nothing is secret which shall not be known and proclaimed.

So attend to how you listen. For he who has enlivened in himself the power to bear the spirit, to him more will be given. He however who does not have this power, from him will be taken that which he thinks he has.

2^nd February Trinity

February 14, 2010

Luke 8: 14 – 18

  

To create a garden, we have to first break open the soil; we enrich it with compost. Then we plant the seeds, each in their proper season. We water them daily, protecting them from scorching heat, from freezing cold, from drought. We remove the competing weeds. And in time there is an abundant harvest.

This same process applies to the garden of the heart. Sometimes the ground of the heart is broken open through life’s wounding. Otherwise, we undertake to break open the ground of the heart through focusing our listening attention, digging our own hearts open, going deeper. And we enrich the ground of the heart with the compost of all our life experience. Through reading, study and the sacraments, we sow the seed-words of God in the heart’s ground. And when God’s words take heart-root, we attend to them, noticing their beauty. We care for them diligently, daily, removing obstacles to their growth. We protect them from the fierce heat of anger, from the flooding of greed, from the weeds of envy and pride. Through patience and attention, our inner garden grows elevated. It bears a rich harvest. It becomes a fitting place for the Divine Word Himself, the Son of God, to come and to live. And when He does, we will have an abundant heart harvest to offer him.

Thus in the words of St. John of the Cross, we will say,

Within my flowering breast

Which only for Himself I save

He sank into His rest

And all my gifts I gave….[1]

www.thechristiancommunity.org

---

[1] St. John of the Cross, “The Canticle”, quoted in Beauty, by John O’Donohue, p. 236.

2nd February Trinity 2011, I AM

Feb Trinity

Luke 8: 22-25

On one of those days he boarded a ship with his disciples, and he said to them, ‘Let us go across to the other side of the lake.’ And they cast off, and while they were sailing he fell asleep. Then a great storm arose over the lake. The waves broke over them so that they were in great danger. Then they went to him, woke him and said, ‘Master, master, we are perishing!’ And he arose and raised his hand against the wind and the tumultuous waves. Then the elements ceased raging, and there was a great calm. And he said, ‘Where is your faith?’ And overwhelmed by fear and astonishment, they said to one another, ‘Who can this be who commands the wind and the water, and they obey him?2^nd February Trinity

Feb 13, 2011

Luke 8: 22-25

In wind and air there are times of calm, and times of movement. Usually the movement comes during times of change in the weather, in the transitions.

Our lives also have times when we are in transition. Transitions are often uncomfortable. In our inner landscape, we may feel ourselves ‘at sea’. We may experience emotional upheavals as the winds of change create waves of emotion that threaten to overwhelm us.

But there is a force of will that can command our inner wind and waves. It is the force of our own eternal I AM, carried by Christ.

He Qi

Christ asks his disciples, asks us, ‘Where is your faith?’ We can hear this, not as a criticism, but as an actual question. In what do we put our faith? To what (or whom) do we entrust ourselves? What anchors us as we ride out life’s stormy transitions?

 One thing we can entrust ourselves to is God’s love, and the beneficence of his will for us. We can have faith that nothing that happens to us can kill our real self, our true I AM. For as Paul says, ‘I know from experience: neither the forces of death nor the forces of life, neither angels nor Mights, neither things present nor things to come, not the World-Powers themselves, neither heights nor depths nor any other thing or Being in creation can separate us from the love of God which took on body in Christ Jesus our Lord.’[1]

And as the Psalmist sings:

God is our refuge and strength,

   an ever-present help in trouble.

Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way

   and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,

 though its waters roar and foam….

 He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;….[2]

www.thechristiancommunity.org

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[1] Paul’s Letter to the Romans, chapter 8, verses 37 - 39

[2] Psalm 46

2nd February Trinity 2012, Be Quiet

2^nd February Trinity

Luke 8:14-18

And as a great crowd had gathered, and ever more people streamed to him out of the cities, he spoke in a parable:

A sower went out to sow his seed. As he sowed, some seed fell on the path. It was trodden upon, and the birds of the sky (air) ate it up. Other seed fell upon the rocks, and as it sprouted, it (the sprouting green) withered, because it had no moisture. Still other seed fell under the thorns; the thorns grew with it and choked what came up. And some fell upon good soil, grew, and brought forth fruit a hundredfold. When he had said these things, he called out:

“He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”

His disciples asked him what this parable might mean. And he said:

To you it has been given the gift of being able to understand the mysteries of the kingdom of God; but to the others it is given in pictures and parables, for they see and do not yet see, and hear, although they do not yet understand with their thinking. The meaning of the parable is this:

The seed is the Word of God. That which fell upon the path are those who hear it; afterwards the tempter comes and tears the Word out of their hearts, so that they cannot find healing through the trusting power of faith working in them.

Those on the rock are those who, when they hear the Word, take it up with joy; but they remain without root. For a while the power of their faith works in them, but in times of trial they fall away.

What fell under the thorns are those who hear the Word from the spirit, and as they go on their way, the sorrows and the riches and the joys of life choke it, and they bring no fruit to maturity.

And the seed which fell in the good soil are those who hear the Word, and take it up into their hearts, feel its beauty, become noble and worthy and patiently keep it alive, tending it there until it brings forth fruit.

No one lights a light and hides it under a vessel or under a bench; instead he places it on a lamp stand so that all who come in see the light. For nothing is hidden which shall not be revealed, and nothing is secret which shall not be known and proclaimed.

So attend to how you listen. For he who has enlivened in himself the power to bear the spirit, to him more will be given. He however who does not have this power, from him will be taken that which he thinks he has.

2^nd February Trinity

Feb 12, 2012

Luke 8:14-18

The seeds are beginning to germinate. If we intend to grow something specific, we have to sow those kind of seeds, cultivate and care for their growth. Otherwise, we are leaving to chance what will grow, and that is most often just weeds.

This intentionality also applies to other areas of our lives. Our thoughts, our actions are the seeds of our future. Haphazard thoughts and actions seed a chancy sort of future; whereas intentional, cultivated thoughts and actions have the strong potential to create the future we want and intend.

Christ’s story makes it clear that He has sown Himself, His words, His intentions, His deeds on the fields of human hearts. He has seeded an intentional future for humankind. These seeds have been sown in every human heart. But they will need to find fertile soil in order to grow. He prays for our cooperation, our cultivation, our own intentionality, in order to make His future bear fruit.

This fertility of the heart we cultivate by paying attention to how we listen. Do we cultivate enough quiet time in our lives to even hear His words? Do we let ourselves be distracted from building the future by things of the moment? Do we have the strength and persistence of heart to continue to work on creating His intended future, even when it gets difficult?

The poet Wendell Berry wrote these words as a reminder to himself:

Make a place to sit down.

Sit down. Be quiet.

….

There are no unsacred places;

there are only sacred places

and desecrated places.

Accept what comes from silence.

Make the best you can of it.

Of the little words that come

out of the silence, like prayers

prayed back to the one who prays….[1]

www.thechristiancommunity.org

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[1] "How to be a Poet" by Wendell Berry from Given. 

2nd February Trinity 2014, Layers

2^nd February Trinity

Luke 8:14-18

And as a great crowd had gathered, and ever more people streamed to him out of the cities, he spoke in a parable:

A sower went out to sow his seed. As he sowed, some seed fell on the path. It was trodden upon, and the birds of the sky (air) ate it up. Other seed fell upon the rocks, and as it sprouted, it (the sprouting green) withered, because it had no moisture. Still other seed fell under the thorns; the thorns grew with it and choked what came up. And some fell upon good soil, grew, and brought forth fruit a hundredfold. When he had said these things, he called out:

“He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”

His disciples asked him what this parable might mean. And he said:

To you it has been given the gift of being able to understand the mysteries of the kingdom of God; but to the others it is given in pictures and parables, for they see and do not yet see, and hear, although they do not yet understand with their thinking. The meaning of the parable is this:

The seed is the Word of God. That which fell upon the path are those who hear it; afterwards the tempter comes and tears the Word out of their hearts, so that they cannot find healing through the trusting power of faith working in them.

Those on the rock are those who, when they hear the Word, take it up with joy; but they remain without root. For a while the power of their faith works in them, but in times of trial they fall away.

What fell under the thorns are those who hear the Word from the spirit, and as they go on their way, the sorrows and the riches and the joys of life choke it, and they bring no fruit to maturity.

And the seed which fell in the good soil are those who hear the Word, and take it up into their hearts, feel its beauty, become noble and worthy and patiently keep it alive, tending it there until it brings forth fruit.

No one lights a light and hides it under a vessel or under a bench; instead he places it on a lamp stand so that all who come in see the light. For nothing is hidden which shall not be revealed, and nothing is secret which shall not be known and proclaimed.

So attend to how you listen. For he who has enlivened in himself the power to bear the spirit, to him more will be given. He however who does not have this power, from him will be taken that which he thinks he has.

2^nd February Trinity

February 16, 2014

Luke 8: 14-18

Today’s reading is a parable, a metaphorical description, that can be heard on several levels. There is always the literal meaning—a sower of seed scatters the grain and it falls in different places with differing results. But Christ makes clear to his closest disciples that there is also another parallel layer of meaning. The seed is not only grain, but also the Word of God, and how it falls into the human heart. It is no accident that Christ chooses an image from the plant world, the world of living beings. For the Word of God is connected to our capacity to grow, to blossom,  be fruitful.

The means by which the Word of God enters the heart is through our sense of hearing. And this sense, too, is multilayered. There is our literal hearing—the ability to hear sounds and distinguish words. And there are also additional layers of hearing, connected to the depth of our understanding. At this level of hearing, the more we understand, the broader and deeper our hearing becomes. And the more we understand, the deeper and more fertile the richness of our soul’s inner ground. With His Word, Christ Himself is entering into us.

‘So attend to how you listen,’ Christ says[1] ; for our focus and our level of hearing contributes to our heart’s fertility, our ability to nurture Christ in us. 

The poet Stanley Kunitz, who lived to be 100, wrote:

I have walked through many lives,
some of them my own,
and I am not who I was,
though some principle of being
abides, from which I struggle
not to stray.

….
In my darkest night,
when the moon was covered
and I roamed through wreckage,
a nimbus-clouded voice
directed me:
"Live in the layers,
not on the litter."
Though I lack the art
to decipher it,
no doubt the next chapter
in my book of transformations
is already written.
I am not done with my changes.[2]

www.thechristiancommunity.org

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[1] Luke 8:18

[2] STANLEY KUNITZ, “The Layers”

2nd February Trinity 2013, And Yet...

2^nd February Trinity

Luke 8:14-18

And as a great crowd had gathered, and ever more people streamed to him out of the cities, he spoke in a parable:

A sower went out to sow his seed. As he sowed, some seed fell on the path. It was trodden upon, and the birds of the sky (air) ate it up. Other seed fell upon the rocks, and as it sprouted, it (the sprouting green) withered, because it had no moisture. Still other seed fell under the thorns; the thorns grew with it and choked what came up. And some fell upon good soil, grew, and brought forth fruit a hundredfold. When he had said these things, he called out:

“He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”

His disciples asked him what this parable might mean. And he said:

To you it has been given the gift of being able to understand the mysteries of the kingdom of God; but to the others it is given in pictures and parables, for they see and do not yet see, and hear, although they do not yet understand with their thinking. The meaning of the parable is this:

The seed is the Word of God. That which fell upon the path are those who hear it; afterwards the tempter comes and tears the Word out of their hearts, so that they cannot find healing through the trusting power of faith working in them.

Those on the rock are those who, when they hear the Word, take it up with joy; but they remain without root. For a while the power of their faith works in them, but in times of trial they fall away.

What fell under the thorns are those who hear the Word from the spirit, and as they go on their way, the sorrows and the riches and the joys of life choke it, and they bring no fruit to maturity.

And the seed which fell in the good soil are those who hear the Word, and take it up into their hearts, feel its beauty, become noble and worthy and patiently keep it alive, tending it there until it brings forth fruit.

No one lights a light and hides it under a vessel or under a bench; instead he places it on a lamp stand so that all who come in see the light. For nothing is hidden which shall not be revealed, and nothing is secret which shall not be known and proclaimed.

So attend to how you listen. For he who has enlivened in himself the power to bear the spirit, to him more will be given. He however who does not have this power, from him will be taken that which he thinks he has.

2^nd February Trinity

Feb 10, 2013

Luke 18: 18-34

A seed seems stripped of everything in the plant that gave it meaning—no leaves, no roots. Buried in the earth it has no access even to light itself. And yet….

And yet deep in its core, the seed harbors the possibility of new life, of creating new leaves, new roots; of finding the light again.

Our lives also have their seed moments, moments, days, weeks when that which gives our life meaning may be taken away from us; when we may feel enveloped in darkness.

Fra Angelico, Descent into Hell

And yet, despite all this, deep in the core of our being there is the seed of new life. For Christ has planted Himself as the seed of Life in the depths of every human heart.

In this gospel reading, the rich young man is encouraged to voluntarily strip away everything that has given his life meaning, strip himself of his riches. He is to go into the depths. There he will find Christ’s love waiting for him, as the seed of a new kind of life.

Christ even reminds us that Himself descended into the deepest depths of human experience. He volunteered to be eternally present in the depths of every human situation. When we come to the end of our own resources, that is just where we will find Him. As Rilke said,

I love the dark hours of my being.

My mind deepens into them.

…..

Then the knowing comes: I can open

to another life that's wide and timeless.[1]

www.thechristiancommunity.org

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[1] Ranier Maria Rilke, Rilke’s Book of Hours: Love Poems to God, trans. by Anita Barrows and Joanna Macy

Picture: Descent into Hell, Fra Angelico